Some New Food Promotions Provide A Bit Of Heat, But Not A Great

Deal Of `Light`

October 25, 1990|By Steven Pratt.

Large food manufacturing companies are trying hard to read the writing on the wall, but for some it seems to lose something in translation. It appears that they can be as confused as they believe consumers to be.

For an example, it seems they all are getting into diet products-``low fat,`` ``low cholesterol,`` ``low salt,`` ``no fat`` and ``lowered fat`` are common terms. ``Health,`` ``fitness`` and ``convenience` also are current buzzwords.

In the frozen dinner entree field, the latest arrivals are Con Agra`s`

Dining Light, ``a convenient and affordable new line of frozen entrees designed with the health-conscious consumer in mind`` and Campbell Soup`s LeMenu LightStyle Entree, ``designed to be part of a healthful balanced diet.``

Most people who listen to radio or television or read a newspaper in the last year are aware of health association guidelines limiting fat intake to 30 percent of total calories. That means if your daily caloric intake is 2,500, fewer than 750 calories should be from fat.

But if you take a look at a Dining Light box of cheese lasagna, it says in bright type, ``97 percent fat free (3 percent fat).`` Does this mean that only 3 percent of the calories are from fat?

No way. The box designers are measuring the fat according to weight, so if you take the total weight of the ingredients (usually measured in grams), only 3 percent is fat. But that is misleading, since 1 gram of fat constitutes 9 calories, while 1 gram of carbohydrate or protein is only 4 calories.

To compute the caloric fat, you have to check the package back. There are 310 total calories and 9 grams of fat. Thus the fat constitutes 81 (9 times 9) of the 310 calories, or 26 percent. That leaves a little different impression than 3 percent fat.

The Le Menu LightStyle Entrees broadcast the number of calories glaringly on the box fronts, saying the fat and cholesterol content is ``low`` and then in smaller type specifying the number of grams of fat and milligrams of sodium. But on the back they plainly list the nutritional guidelines set by health organizations (less than 30 percent fat calories) alongside the data for the specific products in the boxes, which is very helpful for concerned consumer.

The Dining Light entrees, which also fit within the nutritional guidelines for fat, are packaged in trays that can be cooked as is in a microwave or a conventional oven. They weigh 9 ounces each and come in 10 varieties-cheese cannelloni, cheese lasagna, meat lasagna, chicken a la king, chicken chow mein, spaghetti, salisbury steak, swedish meatballs, fettucine and broccoli and chicken with noodles-for $1.89 apiece, or $3.36 a pound, about the price of boneless, skinless chicken breast.

The entrees from both brands fit the nutritional guidelines, but whether there is enough to satisfy a hungry appetite, even accompanied by a salad and a piece of bread or a plain vegetable, depends on who is eating them. And as far as taste is concerned . . . well, with everybody concentrating on nutrition, is anyone thinking about how these things taste? You`ll have to be the judge.

Cashing in on canola

A small Chicago food company has joined the healthy-eating trend by competing with Puritan brand oil with its own brand of canola oil, a cooking/ salad oil that is high in monounsaturated fat and low in saturated fat.

Called Nature`s Secret, it is processed by Columbus Foods Co., which says that 100 percent of its oil comes from U.S. farms. Canola is a relatively new name for oil derived from a hybrid of the rapeseed plant, most of which is grown in Canada-thus the name. Columbus has been selling canola for industrial use since 1988 and now has one-quart containers in Butera and Treasure Island stores. Soon it also will appear in Moni and Eagle supermarkets.

Puritan long has been the most popular national brand of canola. Canola oil is 58 percent monounsaturates, 36 percent polyunsaturates and 6 percent saturated fat. By comparison, olive oil is 77 percent monounsaturated, 9 percent polyunsaturated and 14 percent saturated. Research has shown that saturated fats tend to raise cholesterol levels, especially the low-density lipoproteins (bad cholesterol), while monounsaturates tend to raise levels of high-density lipoproteins (good cholesterol).

Nature`s Secret will sell for about $1.99 to $2.19 a quart, while Puritan goes for $2.25 to $2.50. Hollywood, another brand packaged in glass bottles, sells for about $2.35 to $2.49.